The BattleGround II: The Gates of Hell
by Chris Lozinski
Summary: The skies over the Demon world begin to darken as the High Councils of Hell prepare to resurrect an ancient Fallen Emperor. Dante will soon learn that facing the new Lord of the Underworld will be like staring into his own reflection in a mirror....
1. Chapter 1

**THE BATTLEGROUND II:**

**THE GATES OF HELL**

**CHAPTER I**

* * *

"_Throughout the History of the Universe, there has always been a constant Battle between the forces of good and the forces of evil. A constant battle between the Human World and the Demon World. The threat to the Human World has faded momentarily due to the efforts of a Legendary Dark Knight. However, the High Councils of Hell are preparing to resurrect an ancient fallen Emperor. _

_Dante will soon learn that facing the Lord of the Underworld will be likestaring into his own reflection in a mirror..."._

_And so, the story continues…_

* * *

Like a stream of wild fire, Sparda flew from the inside of the powerful portal with his mighty sword drawn. As he approached the ground, he forced the tip into the armor of Bolverk's chest plate. 

Bolverk staggered back a couple of massive steps and slowly held his giant, beautifully carved tribal sword up to his chest.

Mundus stepped forward and crossed his massive stone arms across his chest.

Sparda looked at the two warriors standing side by side. He was attempting to catch his breath and soon realized that his breath was not as easy to find as it had seemed. As Sparda slowly inhaled and exhaled, he began to blink heavily.

Since he was so focused on his defense from exiting the portal, he did not have the proper time to look at his new surroundings.

Dazed, he glanced around.

Long, thick fleshy charcoal veiny tentacles twisted themselves around each other like a sea of fighting snakes. Dark green and grey thorns protruded from each of them and from the tips dripped a thick, acidic substance that created a small pool wherever it landed.

His stance was shifted slightly when the ground began to shake slowly underneath his feet. He looked down to see the same large and small veins covering the black stone ground in a circular motion. The led all the way up to where Bolverk and Mundus stood.

The trees of the area were long since dead and rotting as the dark veins broke off small branches and twigs. The trees themselves, however, seemed to sway back and forth with the movement patterns of the veins.

As Sparda shifted his focus to the distance, he saw giant, monstrous charcoal towers that shot into the air like spiked arrows. They were so high and thin that it seemed as if hey could almost pierce the burning purple moon that sent off a soft glow that covered all of the land in its shade.

The larger veins were slowly twisting themselves along the bases of the towers and the longer, thinner veins twisted themselves along the tower's windows and tops.

The most disturbing thin about this strange new area was not the veins, however. It was the massive sea of tortured souls that swirled around one particular tower.

It was the Gothic tower in the center of everything. It was also the largest and most menacing tower. In order to reach it, one would first have to figure out a way to overcome the giant gap between it and the other stretch of land that was separated by a giant, sea of fleshy tentacles. One in particular was a shade lighter than the rest and dwarfed the rest in sheer size.

The tortured souls screamed and cried as they reached out their long, veiny fingers into the air.

The spirits that occupied the central Gothic Tower were also in the hue of the purple moon that shone like a beacon over the infested area.

Delirious and suddenly drained of energy, Sparda slowly dropped to one knee, his giant, blood-red sword falling to the ground beside him as it slipped out of his hand.

Mundus grinned.

"It seems as if something had calmed you down a little, has it not?" he said as he uncrossed his arms.

"A warrior such as yourself should always know to take in his surroundings before blindly attacking his enemies." Mundus held up his hands and looked around. "Take a good look around, Dark Knight. You are in a new breed of Hell."

Mundus took one step forward. "One that holds and condemns the tortured souls that linger between the Human World and the Demon World."

Mundus took another towering step forward. "A place where even the most talented Demons have fallen," he said as he smiled once again and took a final step toward Sparda.

"A place where good fails and evil prevails."

Mundus turned around suddenly and began walking back to where Bolverk stood. As he did, he held out his hand and shot his palm into the air.

Slowly, a tentacle began to wrap itself around his hand and down his arm.

"Of course, you should have no problem battling here, Sparda. A strong demon such as yourself should possess enough skill in order to overcome this place's atmosphere."

Sparda closed his eyes and rose to his feet. He opened his icy blue eyes and looked at Mundus.

"It is not the surroundings that make a true Battleground, Mundus. It is the warriors doing battle within them."

It was now Sparda's turn to take one step forward toward his enemies. "And if a pathetic Demon ruler such as yourself can survive here," he began to say as he held out his hand.

Mundus gritted his teeth as Sparda's sword suddenly rattled and flew into his hand from the ground.

"So can I."

With those very words, Sparda sprinted at Lord Mundus and leapt into the air. He slashed away the veins that crawled across Mundus's arm. He managed to kick Mundus across the face and slash his sword upward at Bolverk's chest at the same time before he hit the ground.

As he landed, Sparda quickly took advantage of the situation as he once again kicked Mundus away from him and grabbed Bolverk by the head. Sparda quickly pushed off of the tentacles from the ground and smashed the top of his spiked forehead into Bolverk's massive skull.

Bolverk staggered back , clutching the impact spot of the blow. Sparda landed on the ground and quickly leapt into the air once again. This time, it was Mundus who would feel his attack.

He took his sword and pointed it at the tip of it at Mundus's chest. Sparda pierced the sword into Mundus's chest and forced it in further with his strong, charcoal hands.

Mundus let out a grunt as Sparda pulled his sword out of the stone giant and punched him in the jaw.

Bolverk had long since recovered from the head butt and quickly charged at Sparda with his giant, tribal sword.

Sparda managed to block the sword's tip with his forearm armor and swipe it away with the same massive arm.

Bolverk spun around and tripped Sparda's legs out from underneath him. Sparda hit the fleshy black ground with a loud thud, but quickly regained his composure and stood up.

Both Mundus and Bolverk held their sword in the air and charged at Sparda.

Sparda quickly found himself dodging and blocking some of the quickest attacks he had ever faced as Bolverk and Mundus both advanced on him like predators on a wounded animal. They came at Sparda with overhead strikes and long, jabbing motions and side swings that came at incredible speeds.

As he swung and maneuvered his giant sword against the attacks, short bursts of white and blue sparks shot up in the air from the clashing swords.

Bolverk and Mundus continued to back up Sparda until his back hit a fleshy stone pillar. Sparda quickly ducked as both Bolverk's sword and Mundus's impaled the stone pillar, causing it to crumble as it crashed to the ground.

As the pillar hit, it managed to split open many of the veiny tentacles slithering across the ground. The thick, juicy poison from within the veins of the tentacles shot up and sprayed on Sparda's right shoulder.

The acid quickly ate away at Sparda's purple and red lined black armor. Sparda gritted his teeth and gripped the wound with thin charcoal hand. The acid left a faint trail of smoke as it left the wound.

Mundus grinned. "Be careful now, Legendary Dark Knight."

Sparda closed his eyes as he shook his head. He had been wounded many times in the past by various kinds of weapons and poisons, but never had a specific one hurt him so badly.

Sparda fought through the pain and quickly charged once again at Bolverk and Mundus.

As the three Legendary Demon Knights continued to fight in this new world, they all seemed to overlook something off in the distance. Something that was completely untouched by the fleshy tentacles.

It was a giant opening to a cave that was shaped like a Demon creature's head. A quick, steady stream of water flowed from its mouth and washed away some of the veins.

The inside of the opening shone a dark purple like the moon itself.

From the inside of the cave came a deep roaring laugher that covered the dark lands, a laughter that sounded all too familiar to the three warriors, especially to Sparda….

* * *

The orange light that spilled into the small bedroom and onto the bed's covers meant that the sun was finally rising. 

As it did, the woman underneath the sheets rolled away from the open window and sighed softly as she pulled the covers off of her body.

As she did, she felt a warm hand touch her waist. She blinked a few times and opened her eyes to see a face all too familiar to her.

As her blue and orange eyes met with the man's icy blue eyes, she rose from her bed.

"Dante?"

Dante sighed and smiled.

"Good morning, Mary."

* * *

Author's Note: Here is the beginning to the second Chapter in the Battleground series. I know it took a while, but I didn't want to rush it. I had to take the time to make it sound exactly how I wanted it to sound. I hope I have kept people interested enough in this story so they can continue to read it. Like always, please R&R. 

Chris

* * *


	2. Chapter II

**The BattleGround II**

**The Gates of Hell**

**Chapter II**

In a split second, the joy of seeing the woman's face lying on the bed drained itself from Dante's eyes as he was violently shoved back from the bed.

Nearly falling over, he braced himself on a tall brown cabinet in the corner of the room. He shook his head a little as he chuckled.

"Wow, babe. Some things never change," he said as he shifted his shoulders off of the cabinet.

Mary threw the blanket off of her body and rose from the bed.

"You know better than to call me by that name, Devil," she spat at him as she quickly opened her dresser drawer to search for some proper clothes. Dante sighed and frowned.

"I thought we agreed that you'd never call me 'Devil' again, Mary."

Infuriated, Mary walked quickly toward Dante, and knowing full well that the white-haired man in the corner of her room possessed the common sense not to call her by that name.

"And you know full well never to call me by that name!"

Dante smiled as he looked down at Mary. "Some things never change. You're still as fiery as you were when we were in the Temple together, Mary."

Mary stopped in her path back to her dresser. "What did you call me?" she asked in a low tone.

Dante squinted his eyes and apologized.

"Sorry Mary."

She clenched her teeth and balled her fists. "You're pushing your luck, Dante."

Dante smiled and crossed his arms. "So are you…" Dante leaned forward and pushed out his neck.

"Mary."

Mary screamed so loud that it caused Dante to cover his ears.

"Why the Hell did you come here, Dante?! Did you just want to torture me with your stupidity?!" she said as she turned around to face him.

Dante leaned back and tucked his neck back in to place.

"See, you turned to face me again. I knew from the moment I walked in the door, you wouldn't be able to stop looking at me."

Mary laughed a very sarcastic laugh.

"I guess it is obvious that some things never change…and by the way, you broke the door down…Devil."

This time, it was actually Dante's turn to go red with anger. If there was one thing Mary was able to do, it was verbally fight back with Dante, and in some rare cases, win.

"Admit it, Dante. You just cannot take the fact that I can outsmart you half the time."

Dante laughed to himself. "Are you kidding? I focus on the fact that you openly admit that you can only outsmart me half of the time, babe."

Mary scowled. "I'm not your _babe_, Dante."

Dante shrugged his shoulders and held up his hands.

"You could be if you fixed yourself up a little, Mary."

Mary opened her mouth ready to scream, but instead, she closed her eyes and held her hands up in the air. "Okay, Dante. You win. No more fighting."

Dante smiled as he began to shift the cabinet back to his original place after knocking it to the side. "Good decision, Mary. Because you know you'd lose, right?"

Mary, with a look of desperation on her face, pleaded with the Devil Hunter.

"Would you please _try_ to search deep down and find the decency not to call me that name any longer, Dante?"

Dante nodded and responded. "Of course, Mary. I won't call you that anymore."

Mary sighed. Dante apologized once again.

"Sorry, Mary."

Knowing that Dante would never give up the verbal battle, Mary decided to try to stray away from the subject.

"Honestly, Dante, why have you come here?"

Dante sighed, and for the first time since their encounter, it was a serious one.

"I cannot explain everything right now, but you need to know that this place is once again in serious danger."

Mary, with a look of confusion on her face, inquired further.

"What kind of danger, Dante?"

Dante didn't want to disclose any information about The Dark Lord or the Temple in the middle of the Sea, or about his Father. He needed to try to convince Mary to come with him because he was afraid that if he were to explain everything at the moment, she might not agree to help.

"Mary," Dante started. "You need to come with us." Mary crossed her arms. "Who's us?"

Just at that very moment, it was as if a black cloud settled in the doorway and began to move toward Dante and Mary. Intimidated, Mary screamed.

"Dante! A Demon! Look out!"

Dante held up his hands and shook them back and forth. "No, Mary. He is an ally, he is with me."

But the sense Dante tried to talk her into had little effect. Mary began to scream louder as the shadowy figure moved closer to her, trapping her between the bed and the bedroom door.

As Mary closed her eyes and clenched her body, the clouded figure opened its fiery green eyes.

It held out its hand, seemingly reaching out to take Mary away. But instead, sitting on the veiny, charcoal-covered hand of the Demon was a small blue bird perched at the end of his pointer finger.

Mary stopped screaming and opened her eyes. She stared at the small bird, then gazed up at the very tall Demon.

Her one tinted blue eye and bronze eye locked with his burnt green eyes as the Demon pulled the bird away.

Then, to Mary's amazement, the Demon spoke.

"I know. These creatures can be quite frightening at first, but if you allow yourself to loosen up around them, they speak in very strange tongues."

The charcoal Demon studied the small creature on the end of his finger. "I have told him my name, but he has yet to tell me his."

The demon held out his giant, veiny green hand down to Mary. "I am Kade."

Mary slowly gripped his hand, then pulled it away as she stuttered. "Oh, my name….my name is Mary."

Dante held out his hand. "Uh? What was that you said?"

Mary shook her head and frowned. "No, no, my name is Lady."

She smiled as she slowly rose, meeting only the giant Demon's charcoal chest.

"Nice to meet you, Kade."

Dante smiled. "He has been a friend of mine since I was a child."

Kade turned around and smiled at Dante, then spoke to him. "Are we ready to go yet, young Dante?" he asked.

Mary frowned. "No, we are not. What is he talking about, Dante?" she asked.

Dante closed his eyes. "I already said I can't talk to you about it yet, Mary. You'll just have to trust me, okay?"

Mary shook her head as she walked up to him. "No, no it's not just okay! This is always like you!"

Dante sighed. "Please don't do this now…"

Mary spoke louder than him. "No! I mean it! You're never where you say you'll be, you risk both of our lives, you tell me to wait for you and I end up waiting for years on end, and now you want me to walk blindly into a situation with you and Thing over here?!"

Kade held out his hand. "No, perhaps there was a slight misunderstanding. My name is Kade, not…"

Mary just kept going. If there was one thing Kade did not have, it was a grasp of sarcasm or an understanding for jokes.

As Mary continued on, Dante began to raise his voice as well.

Mary continued the verbal attack. "I helped you time and time again, and you leave just like that, without even saying anything and this is how you confront me about it! What's so important that caused you to take time out of your oh-so busy day to come get me, huh? What the Hell could it be-"

"It's your Father!"

Dead silence filled the small bedroom.

A small tear trickled down Mary's cheek.

"What did you say?" she asked as her voice cracked.

Dante sighed and closed his eyes.

"It's your Father."

"It's Arkham."

Mary put her head down and wiped the tear from her cheek."

"I'll go." She said, almost a whisper.

"What?"

"I'll go!" she spat at him as she sighed. She walked over to her closet and grabbed a long-sleeved white dress shirt, a black bra, a black and bronze mini skirt and long, bluish-grey boots.

Dante smiled as he put a hand on her small shoulder. "Thank you,"

His hand was soon shrugged off as Mary took a step back. She still was not used to close human contact with anyone, especially Dante.

"So, are we ready?" she asked to try to hide the ackwardness in her actions.

Dante looked over at Kade. Kade nodded and held up his hand. A large, fiery orange portal opened up in the center of Mary's room. All three warriors held up their forearms to shield their eyes.

Dante looked over at the woman beside him.

"Ready Mary? He asked.

Mary sighed once again as all three warriors slowly entered the portal.

Author's Note: I know, I know. It's been like three years since I've updated this story. I practically re-wrote the whole thing because I wasn't happy with it. Also, I have a new story up in the Mortal Kombat section if anyone is interested. It's called "The Shadows of Destiny." Anyway, like always, please R&R.

-Chris-


	3. Chapter III

**THE **

**BATTLEGROUND II**

**THE GATES OF HELL**

**CHAPTER III**

* * *

Seven bone-carved pillars with jagged wild flaming torches shone across a deserted ground, revealing a pathway to the center of a Courtyard lined with Mummified Warriors. Each warrior was evenly spaced apart from one another and held perfectly still by giant stone base tablets. The center of each base tablet revealed the long-dead warriors names carved as an impression in the ancient Demon Language.

The hot, gusting wind from Hell's lower levels blew long strands of silvery-white hair across a pair of fiery eyes. The warrior who stood in the center of the Courtyard, practically as still as one of the mummified warriors, closed his blazing eyes and clenched his fists.

He exhaled a long breath and lowered his head. "If that damn Sorcerer takes any longer..."

Just as soon as the thought escaped his mind, he heard hard, fast footsteps behind him. He opened his eyes and unclenched his fists as soon as he heard the footsteps behind him stop.

The Demon Sorcerer's morbid snail-like neck twisted slightly to gaze up at the warriors encompassing the large courtyard.

The orange fire from the torches placed atop the pillars made the golden lining on his charcoal robe shine brightly.

He gritted his sharp teeth and spoke. "Master..."

Before the Sorcerer could explain his absence, he was silenced by a hand held up in the air. His Master's sharp blue overcoat bent at the elbow crease as he slowly lowered his hand.

"You have been blessed by the Elders of this Realm, Guildenstern," he began as he slid a few long fingers over the handle of his Katana Sword. "Because fore some unforseen reason, this blade has yet to pierce your scaly throat..."

The Demon Sorcerer Guildenstern swallowed harshly and took a step back. He sighed as soon as he saw his master take his hand off of his sword.

"Make a point of never making me wait again, Sorcerer."

Guildenstern smiled. "Yes, my Lord."

The white-haired warrior did not turn around to face Guildenstern, he simply raised his voice instead.

"What is the status of your General?" he asked, as if he was not mere seconds away from slashing Guildenstern's throat.

"Marcellus still waits in his temple to the south." Guildenstern once again smiled. "He will remain dormant there until I tell him otherwise," he said, taking a little pride in the fact that the hulking beast Marcellus must obey his every command.

The white-haired man nodded, still with his back turned to Guildenstern.

"And what of Mundus?" he asked, with a slight rise of tone in his voice. Guildenstern answered, but hesitated a little.

"Lord Mundus is-"

"And what of Mundus, Sorcerer?" the man asked as he turned to face his loyal Sorcerer. "Mundus is no longer your Lord, Demon. I am now."

Guildenstern nodded and bowed forward. "Of course my Lord. Forgive me."

"Mundus is currently in the Realm of Shadows." The white-haired warrior tilted his head slightly and frowned.

"The Realm of Shadows? You mean to tell me a Shadow Realm does in fact exist?" he inquired.

"Yes my Lord," said Guildenstern. "It it a Realm between Realms. It houses dead and lost souls that haven't quite yet made their way to Hell."

"Interesting," said the white-haired warrior. "Tell me more," he demanded.

"Both General Bolverk and The Legendary Dark Knight Sparda are there as well. Mundus must have taken them there with him when he vanished from the Earthrealm."

"Interesting. What of the necklaces?" he inquired further.

Guildenstern did not make the mistake of hesitating to answer his Lord this time. He quickly spoke.

"Mundus is in possession of one my Lord, and...Arkham...has the other..."

The Courtyard went dead silent. "You mean to tell me that you did not intervene and make certain that both amulets stayed beside one another?!" he spat at Guildenstern, who looked as if he would start to quiver at any moment.

"No, my Lord. I could not enter the Earth Realm at that time. If I did, it would have appeared to Lord Mundus that I was betraying him." The man frowned. "And what is the flaw in that, my dear Sorcerer?" he asked.

"Because, sir, if we can control Mundus, we can control Arkham. Arkham is currently under Mundus' possession. He will not be hard to track down and kill in order to obtain the second necklace amulet."

The white-haired warriors smiled. "This pleases me. Where is Arkham currently located?"

"My spies have been able to gather certain information that leads me to believe that the portal from the Temple in Earth Realm sent him back to the outskirts of Hell."

"And what were Mundus's last orders to yourself and Marcellus?" he asked.

Guildenstern answered his master. "We were to hunt down and locate a tribe of resistance Demons around that very location. One of them holds very close ties with Kade, my Lord."

The white-haired man smiled. "Excellent. Go on as planned. Hunt down the second necklace. Element will take care of the first. Also, take out the resistance tribe."

An evil grin crossed the warrior's face. "Perhaps we can draw Kade to us after all."

The white-haired warrior turned his back and placed one hand within the other behind his back.

"That is all, Sorcerer."

Guildenstern stepped forward and bowed.

"Yes, Lord Vergil."

* * *

Author's Note: Like I said before, I really hope I have done enough to catch people's interest and hold it in place with these stories. I really hope you all are still reading this one and if you aren't that's obviously okay too. I just ask that if you do read this story, please leave a comment because that's what a writer needs sometimes to motivate he or she to keep writing. So please, like always, R&R.

-Chris-

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